Climate crisis response demands adaptation and not just mitigation: PM Modi at COP26

"Adaptation has not received the kind of importance in global climate debate that mitigation has. This is an injustice to those developing nations that are more impacted by climate change. We will need to make adaptation the key component of our development policies and projects," he said in a speech that lasted two minutes.

"Just like in India, climate is a big challenge for agriculture sector for most developing countries. There are changes in the cropping patterns, untimely rains and floods, or crops are destroyed by regular typhoons," PM Modi said.

He emphasised the Indian government's projects like Tapwater for All, Clean India Mission and Clean Cooking Fuel for all that have not only provided adaptation benefits to our citizens in need but also improved their quality of life.

"Many traditional communities possess the knowledge to live in harmony with nature. Such traditional practices must get appropriate attention in our adaptation policies," PM Modi said.

"To ensure this knowledge is passed onto our younger generations, we must include it as part of our school syllabi. Preservation of lifestyle per local conditions can be an important pillar of adaptation," he said.

"Even if the methods of adaptation are local, the support provided to vulnerable countries must be global, i.e. keeping in mind the need for global support for local adaptation that India took the initiative for Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure," he said.

COP26 inherits its central goal from the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, which witnessed countries agree to limit global warming at "well below" 2 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and 1.5 degree Celsius if possible.

The objective of the COP26 conference was rendered even more difficult by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree to new commitments to achieve net-zero emission goals at a weekend summit in Rome.